Recent Newspaper & Online Columns by Kate Scannell MD

By Dr. Kate Scannell, Syndicated columnist
First published in print: 08/16/2014

I spent last week with an elderly, housebound friend -- and Ebola. Ebola virus everywhere! Ebola sneaking into the U.S.! Ebola lurking under our beds!

My friend, near 90-years old, was watching a 24-hour news station and becoming increasingly upset by fear-mongering and anxiety-amping commentary concerning the Ebola outbreak in Africa. In his small Midwest living room where he had lived for six decades and endured many of life's great tribulations, he was feeling increasingly fearful about Ebola. (more…)

Journalist Rebecca Skloot’s new book is a gripping read that embodies all abstractions about research ethics in a compelling tale about Henrietta Lacks – a woman whose microscopic cancerous cells shook the world’s medical establishment in 1951.